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| The Deep End of the Ocean (Oprah's Book Club) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jacquelyn Mitchard
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $0.01
You Save: $14.99 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (342 reviews)
Sales Rank: 51072
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0140286276
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780140286274
ASIN: 0140286276
Publication Date: October 1, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A #1 New York Times bestseller, Mitchard's suspenseful and moving novel is now available in trade paperback
Few first novels receive the kind of attention and acclaim showered on this powerful story--a nationwide bestseller, a critical success, and the first title chosen for Oprah's Book Club. Both highly suspenseful and deeply moving, The Deep End of the Ocean imagines every mother's worst nightmare--the disappearance of a child--as it explores a family's struggle to endure, even against extraordinary odds. Filled with compassion, humor, and brilliant observations about the texture of real life, here is a story of rare power, one that will touch readers' hearts and make them celebrate the emotions that make us all one.
"Riveting . . . twists that will spin you around." --Newsweek
"A drama with the tension of a thriller that moves deeply into the emotional territory of family ties." --People
"Take a deep breath. . . . This riveting story won't let you come up for air." --US magazine
Amazon.com Review
Oprah Book Club Selection, September 1996: The horror of losing a child is somehow made worse when the case goes unsolved for nearly a decade, reports Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist Jacquelyn Mitchard in this searing first novel. In it, 3-year-old Ben Cappadora is kidnapped from a hotel lobby where his mother is checking into her 15th high school reunion. His disappearance tears the family apart and invokes separate experiences of anguish, denial, and self-blame. Marital problems and delinquency in Ben's older brother (in charge of him the day of his kidnapping) ensue. Mitchard depicts the family's friction and torment--along with many gritty realities of family life--with the candor of a journalist and compassion of someone who has seemingly been there. International publishing and movie rights sold fast on this one: It's a blockbuster.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 337 more reviews...
 Not a big fan September 20, 2008
I read this book because Oprah recommended it and I have to say I was confused as to why she recommended it. It was painfully and unnecessarily long and should have been edited better. As a parent, yes I can sympathize, but that doesn't make me like this book.
 Every mothers worst nightmare... August 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When three year old Ben is kidnapped from a crowded hotel lobby Beth Cappadora has a breakdown.
As you can imagine any mother in that situation would react similarly with feelings of detachment, grief, sleepless nights and endless days. However, for Beth Cappadora these feelings never seem to quite go away, and although over the 10 years between Ben's kidnapping and his return Beth has done a good job of showing the outside world that she has gone back to normal, her family and those closest to her know better.
Beth is just going through the motions, barely paying attention to her eldest son and youngest daughter and neglecting her doting husband. Beth is afraid that the slightest deterrent from the life she has created post Ben will send an avalanche crashing down around her that she will not be able to recover from.
Many reviewers said that the characters were unlikable, and this may be true, as it was hard for me to like Beth at times, however, in real life people have real emotions and react to situations in very real ways, ways that maybe we cannot judge until we've walked a mile in their shoes. The one character in the book that my heart did go out to was Beth's teenage son Vincent. He felt the brunt of his mothers disconnect and felt as though much of it was his fault since at the tender age of seven, he was the one asked to look after Ben that fateful day.
`THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN' was a very honest book that will leave any parent emotionally drained by the end.
 It was both a great and not so great.... July 30, 2008
Depressing? Yes. Well written? Yes. This story truly is every mothers worst nightmare. But as a mother, I feel it worthy to know about the horrors of the world so I read and become more aware to the point of paranoid at times. Anyway, I don't hate Beth. The mistake she made could be anyone's. I don't think I could survive a child of mine being taken. I can't say I could be strong for my other children either so I can't judge her. I think I lost a little interest in the book after they found out what happened to Ben. It got a little boring to me. And Reese just pissed me off. You can't blame a child for these things but as he got older he should have tried to be more understanding of his parent's heartache. A good read and I don't regret it.
 Wow! June 20, 2008
I read this book before the movie over and over again. It is a compelling book which keeps you guessing and tugging at your heart. The twists and turns throughout the books were exciting.
Definitely a book you cannot put down!
Merna
Pocket of Pearls: A 30-day pocket workbook to start hearing a softer voice inside of you!
 Not Good. May 9, 2008
It's intriguing and compelling, but it's not good. A good book affects you, changes you, and empathizes with you. This one did none of that for me. Curiosity compelled me to finish it out, but it was pointlessly depressing.
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